Today's itinerary is broken into two postings. Our day begins with a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Since this church is shared by 6 denominations and it can get very crowded. Our visit is very very early in the morning since if everything goes well, Father King is actually scheduled to say Mass for us inside the tomb of Jesus. The tomb only holds a small number of people so he is required to say Mass in 22 minutes to make room for the next group.
Our route to the Church is the
Via Dolorosa which is Latin for Painful Way. They don't know the exact route of Jesus to his Crucifixion, but the tradition of the Way of the Cross has been followed by pilgrims for a long time although originally there were not stations along the way. The route starts near the Lion's Gate in the Muslim Quarter and goes from the Antonia Fortress to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a distance of about 2,000 ft. The Antonia Fortress (built by Herod the Great and named for Marc Antony) was a military barracks. The Stations of the Cross are along the Via Dolorosa, with the last 5 stations being inside the church itself. The route has changed over the years, but the path we're taking has been in place for centuries. The street is lined with shops selling merchandise so you have to block that part out in order to focus on the religious aspect. Even inside the church, I hear the atmosphere is not always reverent.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre contains the site where Jesus was crucified and the site of the tomb where he was buried and was resurrected. The church is shared by the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic, Coptic Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox churches.
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| Church of the Holy Sepulchre |
After Christianity was accepted by Constantine the Great, the first church was built here in 335 A.D. This building was destroyed by fire in 614 when the Persians invaded. It was rebuilt in 630 and suffered damage in earthquake in 746 and by fire in 841, 938, and 966. In 1009, Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah ordered the destruction of the church as part of a more general campaign against Christian places. The damage was extensive, with few parts of the early church remaining, and the roof of the tomb of Jesus was damaged. After considerable negotiations, the church was partially rebuilt in 1048 and finished by the Crusaders in 1149. It was renovated again in 1555 and repaired after a fire destroyed the dome in 1808 and after damage from an earthquake in 1927. More recent renovations have included restoration of the iron dome (1994 to 1997) and restoration of the edicule (2016-2017). So amazing that this Church is more than 1,000 years old.
Because of this long history and the various Christian denominations present, the Church is a mishmash of various architectural styles with some 30 different worship areas inside. I'll pick up a description of the church interior after the first 9 stations of the Via Dolorosa.
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| 1st Station |
Station 1 is Jesus' condemnation by Pontius Pilate. This occurred at the site of Madrasa al-Omariya built on the former site of the Antonia Fortress. The madrasa is an elementary school for boys. Each of the stations is marked by a medallion with a Roman numeral (looks like a fire alarm bell).
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| 2nd Station |
Station 2 is where Jesus took up his cross. This is located next to the Franciscan Monastery of the Flagellation, across the road from the First Station.
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| Chapel of the Flagellation |
The Chapel of Judgment/Condemnation, on the left, marks the site where Jesus was sentenced to death; the Chapel of the Flagellation, on the right, is where he was beaten by Roman soldiers.
From here, the Via Dolorosa turns south on Tariq Bab al-Ghawanima and passes the northwestern gate of the Temple Mount. Up ahead on the north side of the Via Dolorosa is the Convent of the Sisters of Zion.
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| Ecce Homo Arch |
Next we come the Ecce Homo Arch, where Pilate identified Jesus to the crowd saying "Ecce homo" ("Behold the man" - Jn 19:5). The arch is part of a gate dating from Emperor Hadrian's time and was given its present name in the 16th century.
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| 3rd Station |
Marked by a sculpture above the door of a small Polish chapel at the junction with al-Wad Road, the 3rd station is where Jesus fell for the first time.
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| 4th Station |
Station 4 is where Mary watched her son go by with the cross, and is commemorated at the Armenian Church of Our Lady of the Spasm. The church has a 5th-century floor mosaic, which includes an outline of a pair of sandals, said to be Mary's footprints.
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| 5th Station |
At the 5th Station, Simon of Cyrene was forced by Roman soldiers to help Jesus carry this cross. This Via Dolorosa turns west off al-Wad Road and begins to narrow as it goes uphill.
At the top of a steep hill is the 6th Station, where St. Veronica wiped Jesus' face with her handkerchief, leaving an image of his face imprinted on the cloth. The relic, known as the Sudarium or Veronica, is kept at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Nearby an imprint in the stone is said to be the hand print of Jesus
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| 6th Station |
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| Hand print of Jesus |
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| Chapel of the Holy Face |
Also at this station is Church of the Holy Face, served by the “Little Sisters,” a Greek Catholic rite. The chapel is part of the Crusader monastery of St. Cosmos and was refurbished by Barluzzi in 1953. Inside are refurbished Crusader arches.
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| 7th Station |
At the 7th Station o
verwhelmed by the weight of the Cross, Jesus falls a second time. But the cruel executioners do not permit Him to rest a moment. With thrusts and blows they urge Him onward. This is marked by a Franciscan chapel at the Via Dolorosa's junction with Souq Khan al-Zeit. In Jesus time, he would have left the city at this point.
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| 8th Station |
Station 8 is across the market street and up the steps of Aqabat al-Khanqah, opposite the Station VIII Souvenir Bazaar. A cross and the Greek inscription "NIKA" on the wall of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of St. Charalambos mark the place where Jesus consoled the lamenting women of Jerusalem.
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| 9th Station |
Across Souq Khan al-Zeit, south down Khan al-Zeit, and up 28 stone steps leads to Station 9 at the Coptic Patriarchate next to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Here, a Roman pillar marks the site of Jesus' third fall.
The remaining five stations are part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Two plans of the church appears below to help you visualize this complex church. From station 9, we enter the church courtyard called the Parvis from the street on the right. The area just inside the Church to the right in yellow is Golgotha where Jesus was crucified and three of the stations are here. The tomb of Jesus is inside the Edicule located under the dome which is the circular area on the left.
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| Courtyard Entrance of the Church |
The entrance to the Church is through the original carved, wooden doors on the South side of the church. You can only enter through the left side since the right doors have been blocked up since the 1100s. The
key to the doors of the church is held by the Muslim, Nusaybah family, under an agreement between King Richard the Lionhart and Sultan Saladin in 1192 allowing for Christian pilgrims to visit the site.
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| 10th Station |
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| Chapel of the Franks |
Station 10: Jesus is stripped of his garments. The station is at the top of the stairs to the right of the entrance in the Chapel of the Franks. Note the immovable ladder below the blocked up doorway.
To the left of the entrance is a bench that has traditionally been used by the church's Muslim doorkeepers.
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| Stone of the Annointing |
Ahead inside the entrance to the church is the Stone of Annointing which commemorates the preparation of Jesus' anointing and preparation for burial. This limestone slab dates from 1810 since the prior 12th-century slab was destroyed in the devastating 1808 fire. The wall behind the stone, added after the fire, has mosaics depicting the descent from the Cross, the anointing and the burial of Jesus. The hanging lamps at these locations are a common feature throughout this church.
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| Mosaic |
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| Stairs to Calvary |
To the right of the entrance is a steep and curving flight of stairs leading up the "hill" of Calvary or Golgotha. At the top of the stairs is the outcrop on which Jesus was crucified. Calvary is split into two chapels, one Roman Catholic and One Eastern Orthodox.
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| Chapel of the Nailing to the Cross |
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| 11th Station |
The Catholic Chapel of the Nailing to the Cross is the 11th station. The mosaic on the ceiling is from the Crusader period, the only mosaic from that time that survives. The more modern mosaics in the nave are from Antonio Barlucci in 1937. The altar comes from Florence and was given to the church by Cardinal Medici in 1588.
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| Station of the Holy Women |
Behind the tomb is a small Coptic chapel that can only hold two or three people. St. Mark spread Christianity to Alexandria and the Coptic Orthodox church was one of the first to split from the Latin Rite Church back in 451 AD. Most of its 25 million members are Egyptian and their endurance in a largely Muslim country has fascinated me. Egypt is building a new administrative city to replace government offices in Cairo and one of the first things they built was a new Coptic cathedral with a capacity of 9,000.
Not far from the Stone of the Anointing on the main floor is the Station of the Holy Women. A four columned structure was erected over a round stone which marks the spot (or station) where Mary, her sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene watched the Crucifixion.
There are a number of smaller chapels which are too numerous to mention all by name, a bit overwhelming This
video shows some of the chapels. A couple are worth mentioning. The Chapel of Adam is directly below Calgary and tradition holds that this is where Adam (as in Adam and Eve) was buried. When the blood of Jesus was spilled on the cross, it is said that the blood ran through the space where the earthquake split the rock and the blood ran down to where Adam had been buried.
There are a couple of chapels below the main level, one is dedicated to St. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, and another chapel is dedicated to the Finding of the True Cross.
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| Omphalos |
The main body of the church is known as the Catholicon or Katholikon which is the central worship space for the Greek Orthodox Church. The smaller of the two domes visible from outside is over this area. The back section of the Katholikon has the Iconostasis which is a screen common in Eastern Rite churches that divides the sanctuary from the nave of the church. Just behind the arches and columns of the Iconostasis are the Greek Orthodox icons. Two thrones sit on either side of the Iconostasis and are reserved for the Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch and Jerusalem. Toward the front of the Katholikon is the Omphalos which means naval. An Omphalos is a religious stone artifact usually symbolizing the center of the world. The Greek's have one here because after the Crucifixion and Resurrection on this site, this became the center of the Christian world. The Omphalos here is shaped like a goblet.
We will attend Mass in the Holy Sepulchre and then its back to the hotel for breakfast and some rest. Wow, this is only part of the day!
Station 2 is where Jesus took up his cross. This is located next to the Franciscan Monastery of the Flagellation, across the road from the First Station.
Next we come the Ecce Homo Arch, where Pilate identified Jesus to the crowd saying "Ecce homo" ("Behold the man" - Jn 19:5). The arch is part of a gate dating from Emperor Hadrian's time and was given its present name in the 16th century.
Station 4 is where Mary watched her son go by with the cross, and is commemorated at the Armenian Church of Our Lady of the Spasm. The church has a 5th-century floor mosaic, which includes an outline of a pair of sandals, said to be Mary's footprints.
At the top of a steep hill is the 6th Station, where St. Veronica wiped Jesus' face with her handkerchief, leaving an image of his face imprinted on the cloth. The relic, known as the Sudarium or Veronica, is kept at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. Nearby an imprint in the stone is said to be the hand print of Jesus
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